Self-contained air conditioning unit



D. MacLEOD ETAL SELF-CONTAINED AIR CONDITIONING UNIT Filed Sept. 22,1958 I Feb. 7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- llllill I INVENTOR.

MJQQZ Feb. 7, 1961 D. E. M LEOD ETAL 2,970,

SELF-CONTAINED AIRVCONDITIONINGY UNIT Filed Sept. 22, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2 INVENTOR.

w fiukai WJM Unite States v 2,970,457 QSELF CONTAINED AIR CONDITIONINGUNIT Filed Sept. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 7 2,303 1 Claim. c1. 62-279) Thisinvention relates to air conditioning, more particularly to meansfacilitating the use of an air conditioning unit alternatively forcooling-heating purposes or for deliumidification purposes, and to meansfor selectively directing the flow of condensate accumulating on thecooling element of an air conditioning apparatus.

Air conditioning units generally comprise a casing containing: acompressor, heat dissipating condenser, and heat absorbing evaporator,all arranged in a closed fluid circuit through which refrigerant ispassed. It air from the conditioned area is directed 'into heat exchangerela- 'tionship with the evaporator coils, this air will be'cooled; lifthe air is directedinto heat exchange relationship with ithe condensercoil, the air will be heated; if both the condenser and the evaporatorare in heat exchangerela 'tionsh'ip with the conditioned area, thecondenser will raise the temperature of the air in the conditioned areatolower the relative humidity thereof, and the evaporatorfco'il willcondense the moisture, with a resultant dehumidification of the air.Where the unit is employed {as a'cooler, any condensateaccumulated onthe evaporator willfbe'passed to the condenser to be dissipated into"the ambient. Where the unit is employed as a heater, deending onconditions, it may or may not be desirable tojdirect the condensate tothe condenser. Where the ;unit isemployed as a dehumidifier, it isclearly undesirablejto direct the condensate to the condenser since this"will merely serve to return any moisture condensed out by theevaporator to the conditioned area. Thus, where fa single unit isemployed alternatively as a heater-cooler jora dehumidifier, it isdesirable to be able to selectively direct the flow of condensate fromsaid evaporator. V

lt is with the above desideratum in mindthat the l present meanshavebeen evolved, means providing for selective directiono-f the condensatefrom the evaporatc'ncoil eitherto the condenser where the heat given offby the condenser will evaporate the condensate, ,or t'o someothercollection point. The ability toselectively direct thecondensateperm s a single unit to ,be employed either 'as'afcoolentheater, or'dehum'idifien. ilt is accordingly a primary obj t of this invention-toprovide animproved air conditioning unit.

Another object of the invention is to providean 'air fconditioning unit,which 'may function alternatively acopler-heater or'as a dehumidifier, V1

Itis also an objectlof this invention to provide novel 'nia'ns'for'collecting'any condensate forming on the eva'prator cooling element ofthe unit.

i 'A still further object of the invention is to provide a fvelgfrconditioning, unit with means for"s ele1ctive1y directing the condensateforming on theevaporatorto any poi ntas' desired.

Another important object of the invention is to permit the user of anair conditioning unit to control flow of fcondensate forming on'theevaporator so thatthe unit may function alternatively as acooler-heater or dehumidifier. ik still furthercbject "of'theinventiorris to provide a *atent O evaporator facade grill.

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2 novel facade grill for an air conditioner which will permit selectivedelivery of the condensate.

It is also an object of this invention to provide novel means separatingthe heat dissipating element fromthe heat absorbing element of an airconditioning unit, said means permitting selective direction ofcondensate forming on the surface of the cooling element to the heatdissipating element.

These and other "objects of the invention which will be made hereinaftermore apparent are achieved by providing a conventional air conditioningapparatus which normally has a condenser chamber containing a heat dissipating condenser, and an evaporator chamber containing a heat absorbingevaporator, said chamber separated by a common partition wall extendingtherebetween. Within the evaporator chamber mounted beneath theevaporator coil, novel condensate collection means in the form of acondensate drain trough is provided to catch any condensate accumulatingon the evaporator. Selectively directable condensate discharge meansincluding a flexible conduit is extended from a low point of thecondensate trough, and this conduit is thereafter removably positionedin :an aperture in the partition wall. Where,

ponents 'Off the unit self contained within a housing, it

is proposed to provide means whereby the condensate conduit may beselectively positioned with its free end eith er'extending eitherthrough the partition wall into the condenser chamber, or out of theunit through a novel 7 I The novel evaporator facade grill and condenserfacade grill are identical and interchangeable so as to simplifymanufacture, and further to permit the unit to be arranged with eitheror both facades facing the conditioned'area with equal aesthetic effect.

A primary feature of the invention resides in the provision in an airconditioning apparatus of a flexible condensate discharge tube orconduit which may be selectively positioned was to permit condensatedissipation by the condenser where the unit is employed for cooling; orto permit condensate collection where the unit is employed fordehumidification purposes. When heating is desired, depending onhumidity conditions in the'conditioned area, --the condensate may eitherbe in- ,dependently collected, discharged to the ambient, or distributedin the conditioned area.

Another feature of the invention resides in the proviisionin an airconditioning apparatus of a novel partition panel through which acondensate drain tube may be removably passed, said panel functioning toseparate the condenser from the evaporator in the air conditioningapparatus.

An additional feature of the invention resides in the provision of anovel condensate drain trough for use in collecting condensate from theevaporator of air conditioning apparatus without interfering with airflow.

A further important feature of the invention resides in the provision ofan air conditioner unit construction with novel identical facade grillsarranged on each side 'of the unit whereby either the condenser orevaporator side of the unit may be exposed to the conditioned area novelcondensate drain trough shown mounted on the novel panel of the unit ofFigure 1; and

' Figure 3 is a sectional view showingthe alternative positions of thecondensate discharge conduit.

Referring noW more particularly to the drawings, like numerals in thevarious figures will be employed to designate like parts.

As best seen in Figure 1 the novel air conditioning unit here presentedas embodying the instant invention comprises a casing 11 having anevaporator side 12 (the near side in the figure) and a condenser side13.

A facade grill 14 is provided having intake louvres 15 extendinghorizontally across the bottom part of the grill, and exhaust louvres 16extending vertically along the upper part of the grill 14. Two of thesefacade grills 14 are employed in conjunction with each unit 10,

one grill employed as a condenser facade grill, and the other as anevaporator facade grill. Each grill is held in position on casing 11 bymeans of spaced tabs 18 formed along the upper edge of grill l4, andadapted to engage with a flange on the edge of casing 11. The lower edgeof the facade grill 14 is provided with thumb screws 20 which areadapted to be turned into engagement with casing 11.

Within the casing, a refrigeration system comprising a compressor shownschematically in Figure 3, a heat formed with an aperture 31 for apurpose to be made hereinafter more apparent. Base pan 35 forms thebottom of casing 11 and provides a condensate sump 36 in condenserchamber 28.

Extended beneath evaporator 27, and supported by partition panel 30, ata spaced distance therefrom, a condensate drain trough 40 is arranged.Trough 40 is formed with a lowermost point 41 from which a spigot 42 isextended. Selectively directable condensate discharge means in the formof condensate discharge conduit 43, formed of a flexible material suchas rubber, vinyl plastic, or the like is coupled to said spigot 42, andthe free end of condensate discharge tube 43 is extended either throughaperture 31 in panel (as shown by the solid line in Figures 1, 2 and 3),or through the intake louvres 15 of grill 14 over the evaporator side ofthe unit, as shown by the dotted line in Figures 1 and 3.

The afore disclosed air conditioning unit embodying the novel featuresof this invention permits selective use of the unit to provide eitherheating, cooling, or dehumidifying of the air in any given conditionedarea. This flexibility of use is attained as'a result of the ability toselectively control the discharge of any condensate accumulating on theevaporator cooling element of the unit. 7

Where it is desired to employ unit 10 for cooling the air in any givenarea, the unit is positioned in a window, or otherwise arranged with theevaporator 27 in heat exchange relationship with the air in'theconditioned area, and condenser 26 in heat exchange relationshipwith the ambient. This is most readily accomplished by positioning theunit 10 on a window stool with the evaporator side facing the room. Forcooling operation it is generally desirable to lower the moisturecontent or humidity of the air in the conditioned area. This isaccomplished by directing the condensate, which normally accumulates onthe evaporator surface, and drains into condensate trough 40, out of theconditioned area.

When condensate discharge tube 43 is extended through aperture 31 inpanel 30, the condensate in trough 40 will naturally flow to low point41, through spigot 42, through discharge tube 43 into condensate sump 36in condenser chamber 28. Here the heat dissipated by condenser 26 willserve to evaporate the condensate. Though not here illustrated it isproposed to employ a conventional condenser fan having a condensateslinger ring thereon for directing air into heat exchange relationshipwith condenser 26, and for picking the condensate up from the sump 36and discharging the com densate against thecondenser.

Where it is desired to warm the air in the conditioned area, the novelunit 10 may be employed for this purpose by reversing the position ofthe unit so that condenser 26 is in heat exchange relationship with theair in the conditioned area, and evaporator 27 is in heat exchangerelationship with the ambient. In this orientation the heat given off bycon-denser 26 will be directed to the conditioned area. Depending on thehumidity conditions in the conditioned area, the condensate collectingin trough 40 may either be directed to the conditioned area by extendingcondensate discharge tube 43 into communication with sump 36 or thecondensate may be returned to the ambient by positioning tube 43 throughlouvres 15 as shown by dotted line in Figures 1 and 3. Where sopositioned, tube 43 serves to direct the collected condensate out to theambient. It should of course be noted that during the normal heatingseason, humidity conditions are generally too low in the average home,so that it would be desirable to direct the condensate into thecondenser sump for distribution to the conditioned area.

Unit 10 may also efficiently be employed as a dehumidifier in areas ofexcessive humidity such as basements, wash rooms, or the like. This isaccomplished by positioning unit it entirely within the area to bedehumidified, so that both the condenserand evaporator are in heatexchange relationship with the atir in the area to be dehumidified.Condensate drain tube 43 is then positioned in the dotted line positionshown in Figures 1 and 3, and a suitable fluid container is arranged toreceive any condensate discharged by the tube. In this position, thecondenser serves to raise the temperature of the air thus decreasing therelative humidity thereof, and evaporator 27 serves to condense moisturefrom the air, serving to decrease the absolute humidity thereof. It"will be appreciated that the high level take-off of condensate can drainin a pan which sets at the same level as the unit.

It is thus seen that a novel air conditioning unit has been provided,and a novel mode of functioning thereof whereby the unit may be employedto either selectively. heat, cool, or dehumidify the air in any givenarea. This is accomplished by provision of novel means for thecollection of any condensate accumulating on the cooling element of theunit, and novel means for selectively discharging the condensate eitherto the ambient, to the a conditioned area, or to some separatecollection point. The novel unit is provided with novel facade grills,identical in appearance, one on each side thereof whereby the unit maybe turned with either side facing the conditioned area with equalaesthetic effect and which provide an inexpensive arrangement withoutdetracting from the aesthetic effect. I

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration andelucidation and not by way of limitation and it is desired to protectall embodiments of the hereindisclosed inventive concept within thescope of the appended claim.

We claim: An air conditioning unit of the window mounted type comprisingan evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, means forming an aperturedenclosure for said unit, a partition separating said evaporator and saidcondenser to form an evaporator chamber and a condenser chm her, saidpartition having an opening therein, means for supplying separatestreams of air over the evaporator and condenser, means for mountingsaid unit in a window whereby either the evaporator or condenser may beplaced in heat transfer relation with air within the area served by theunit, means placed beneath said evaporator for collecting condensatedraining from said evaporator, flexible conduit means extending in saidevaporator compartment, said flexible conduit means having a first endfixedly connected to said condensate collection means, the body of saidconduit means extending through said evaporator compartment andterminating in a free end removably extending through said partitionopening for delivering condensate to a predetermined position Within thecondenser compartment, said free end being removable 6 from saidpartition opening upon dismounting said unit from the window for thepurpose of employing the unit as a dehumidifier so that the body extendsin the opposite direction through one of said enclosure apertures todischarge condensate through the free end outside said unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,105,108 Crosley Jan. 11, 1938 2,278,989 Gruitch Apr. 7,- 19422,498,661 Dybvig Feb. 28, 1950 2,797,560 Kooiker -e July 2, 19572,804,758 Smith Sept. 3, 1957

